


#1 Space Dad

by Argonautic (Aonami)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (but he's actually a mom friend???), (much better), (sort of), 3 Times Shiro Got Called Dad, And the plot of this fic hinges on that fact, Gen, He is the dad friend, I'm Bad At Summaries, Like... REALLY subtle, Maybe if i word it like a clickbait article..., Minor Spoilers, Shiro-centric, Space Dad Extraordinaire Shiro, Subtle Keith/Lance, Team Dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-18
Updated: 2016-06-18
Packaged: 2018-07-15 21:28:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7239169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aonami/pseuds/Argonautic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"The first time it happens, Pidge is just a moment shy of passing out."</p>
            </blockquote>





	#1 Space Dad

**Author's Note:**

> So.... I was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed this show. Like... I was immediately inspired to write something, and I wrote this in a day, which is unusual for me.
> 
> Anyways, I only proof-read this once, so feel free to point out any errors! :)
> 
> Enjoy!

 

      The first time it happens, Pidge is just a moment shy of passing out.

 

      She’s surrounded by the soft, blue glow of hovering computer screens. Keyboards, control panels, and all sorts of tools lay splayed across the ground. An incomplete map shows on one screen, charting a trajectory which begins on the moon Kerberos. Diagrams and flight patterns and equations take up the rest of the screens, drawn neatly and labelled with Pidge’s clean penmanship. She has a notebook clutched in her hands, a pen drooping out of her mouth.

 

      Shiro stares at the map for another moment. _‘That’s it,’_ He thinks. _‘That’s where it all began.’_ He feels a phantom pain surge up his right arm, to the juncture where it meets his shoulder, and he holds back a wince. A second goes by, and he snaps out of it, directs his focus back to the small body in front of him.

 

      To say the least, Pidge looks completely exhausted. Dark bruises hang beneath her blood-shot eyes, her skin has turned a sickly pallor, and her whole posture is tense. She’s only barely awake, by this point, and Shiro’s brow furrows with worry.

 

      He approaches her at a careful pace, wondering just how long she’s been doing this for. How long she’s had those bags. How long her skin has been this pale. How long it would have taken him to figure it out, had he not found her tonight. Guilt coils in his gut, mixing with shame and worry to create a painful cocktail that weighs him down. His mouth thins into a straight, stern line, before he forces his face back to something more neutral.

 

      Paper crinkles under his foot as he takes another step forward. He looks down, and notices the mess of errant pages scattered all over the floor. Most of them have been torn apart, or scribbled all over, but there are a few with coherent writing closer to Pidge.

 

      Her eyes fall shut when he reaches her. She slumps forward, nearly faceplants onto the keyboard, but Shiro catches her just in time. He goes to wake her, to shake her shoulder a little or call to her, and stops as the tension in her face bleeds away. The crinkle between her eyebrows smoothes, as does the small frown that’d been tugging at her mouth. She looks peaceful.

 

_'Guess I couldn’t wake you even if I wanted to,’_ Shiro thinks, fondly. He sighs, debating what the best course of action to take would be. He can’t leave her there – she deserves a good night’s rest.

 

      “Ngh...” She mumbles, barely audible, and shifts as he picks her up, clutching his shirt loosely. He pauses for a scant second, scared that he’s woken her. Pidge settles after another moment, chest rising and falling with steady breaths.

 

      He carries her to her room as carefully as he can manage. As deep in sleep as she is, though, she hardly moves – even after he’s placed her on top of her bed, and pulled a blanket over her.

 

      It’s only as he’s closing the door that she stirs. She lifts her head slowly, drowsily, and calls out, voice soft with sleep, “Night, dad.”

 

      Shiro stares at her, eyes going slightly wide as he opens his mouth to answer. He stops as her head falls back onto the pillow, small snores already echoing throughout the room. As he closes the door, he decides to keep this to himself.

 

* * *

 

 

      The castle is damaged in a fight against some big, ugly monster, so they’re forced to stay put for a whole seven days on some little backwater planet. Despite what they all fear, the planet is very peaceful. Lush, dark green forest covers most of the surface, and small bodies of water take up the rest. They don’t encounter any rabid animals, or hostile aliens, either, so that’ also a big plus.

 

      The week goes by without incident, without any attacks, without any immediate danger. The calm sets Shiro on edge, although he tries not to show it for the sake of his team. They’re all enjoying the little break (even Keith, though he’d never admit to it), and he doesn’t want to bring their moods down. He can’t say that he doesn’t breathe a sigh of relief when Allura announces that the castle is fixed, though.

 

      “So soon?” Lance complains. So far, practically all he’d done was lounge around in his robe and try to provoke Keith. He’d also trained a bit with the rest of them on the first day, and done some bonding with his Lion, but other than that, well... “Can’t we stay until tomorrow?”

 

      Allura looks at him with a neutral face, goes to answer him when Hunk pipes up, “It’s a nice day out today.” They all turn to him, and he smiles wider. “I think we should take advantage of it, y’know? Who knows when we’ll get another break.”

 

      There’s a small pause. Shiro can see the cogs moving in Allura’s head, turning the suggestion over and actually considering it. He understands that she’s hesitant to leave as well – she’s been working herself too hard, like a lot of them. That last fight had taken a lot out of all of them, but Allura most of all.

 

      Finally, the princess answers, “What did you have in mind?”

 

      Hunk’s face lights up, and Lance pats him on the back, looking pleased. “How about a picnic?”

 

      Allura’s expression contorts into one of confusion. She frowns as she repeats the word, “Pic... nic?” Beside her, Coran looks just as bewildered. “What is _that_?”

 

      “Oh, sorry,” Hunk scratches the back of his neck, smile turning a tad sheepish. “You pack a meal, and you eat it outside on a nice, big, fluffy blanket beneath the shade. My mom used to take my sister and I to the park all the time for picnics, and after we’d play catch, or Go Fish, or–” He stops, his smile slipping, and clears his throat. “Anyways, that’s basically it.”

 

      “That sounds absolutely splendid!” Coran exclaims, before the silence sours into something melancholy and sad. “What a wonderful idea – just like the Solstice festivals back home.”

 

      “Yes,” Allura agrees. She reaches out and places a hand on Hunk’s shoulder, smiling kindly. “That does sound like a nice way to end our holiday. Good thinking, Hunk.”

 

      They all chip in with something. Hunk and Coran cook, Pidge and Keith pack and label the food, Allura double-checks that the castle is in working order, and Shiro and Lance pick a spot to eat. Well... Shiro picks the spot, since Lance goads Keith into a contest of who can label containers the quickest.

 

      Once everything’s prepared, Shiro leads them to a huge, dome-shaped tree which overlooks a shimmering lake. It casts a nice, big stretch of shade that’s large enough to fit all of them, plus a few other people.

 

      Hunk does the honour of spreading the blanket across the grass. It only takes one, flourishing movement, and then the fabric flutters neatly into place – just like something out of a movie. Pidge says as much, a goofy smile on her face, and Hunk laughs but says nothing.

 

      They settle into a broken semi-circle, with the two baskets of food nestled at the base of the tree. Allura takes on the task of distributing the food, but gives up when she can’t read most of the messy labels. Keith at least has the decency to look sheepish, while Lance smirks at Keith, as if it had been all his fault.

 

      “I can do it,” Shiro offers, even though Coran looks ready to step in. “I’m used to reading bad handwriting.” His mom always used to tease him for his handwriting, a warm glimmer in her eyes. She’d said it looked worse than his father’s, and that that was a feat worth some merit. Blinking, he dispels those memories and focuses on the present.

 

      He trades places with Allura, smiling to her as she returns to her seat. He gets through the first basket quickly, and goes to open the second when Hunk says to him, “Can you pass the space goo, dad?”

 

      Everybody freezes. Hunk’s face turns to a color similar to Keith’s Lion, as he stammers, “I–I... I’m sorry? I don’t know–” The rest of what he says goes unheard when Lance bursts into raucous laughter.

 

      Shiro doesn’t really know how to react in a situation like this – especially since it’s not even the first time it’s happened – so he only smiles and huffs a little chuckle.

 

      “Oh, jeez,” Lance wheezes, wiping tears from his eyes. “That’s– oh my _God_. It’s too _priceless_!” He dissolves into another fit, clutching at his sides. Allura hides a smile behind her hand, while Pidge and Keith join in with the laughter (although theirs is much more tamed). Coran looks on, confused, but eventually his mouth tugs into a grin.

 

      Once they’ve all calmed down, Shiro hands Hunk the ‘space goo.’ “Here you go, Hunk,” He says. “And don’t worry about it,” He adds, amused at the blush that’s still staining Hunk’s face.

 

      “Right...” Hunk mumbles, although he’s smiling, too.

 

* * *

 

 

      The incident is forgotten about over the course of the next few days, amongst the fighting and the diplomacy and the training. Shiro doesn’t think about it much after it happens, although it pops into his head from time to time.

 

      A week later, a new monster shows up, and it’s weak enough that they can fight it without forming Voltron. Even separate, they work as if they are one – up until Lance feels the need to show off a flashy move he’s been working on.

 

      He pulls it off, defeats the monster in one deadly strike, but Shiro is furious with him. The moment they’re out of their Lions, he goes straight towards Lance, expression stern, eyes stony.

 

      “You shouldn’t have done that,” He says, disapproving, crossing his arms over his chest.

 

      Lance had been in the middle of receiving a high five from Hunk, smirking and looking very pleased with himself. The moment Shiro speaks, he snaps to attention, and the smirk falls from his face. “Why?” He questions, a little disbelieving. “I finished the thing off, didn’t I?” He looks halfway disappointed, and it’s disheartening, but Shiro isn’t going to let him off easy.

 

      “Because we’re a _team_ ,” Shiro continues. “And you could have seriously injured yourself, or somebody else, if you _hadn’t_ pulled it off.”

 

      An ugly frown mars Lance’s face. “But I _knew_ I could do it,” He insists. “And I did it _for the team_ – how can you say I was _selfish_?”

 

      “I never said you were selfish,” Shiro points out, voice deceptively calm.

 

      “But you insinuated it,” Lance accuses. “I can’t _believe_ this. The one time I thought you’d be proud of me–” He stops himself, his lips thinning into a straight line. “You know what? I don’t even _care_! It’s not like you’re my dad or anything.” Fists clenched, he stomps out of the room.

 

      An awkward silence makes Hunk scratch the back of his neck, and Pidge cough weakly. Keith has been awfully quiet, Shiro notes at the back of his mind. Out of the corner of his eyes, he can see Keith’s gaze burning in the direction where Lance went.

 

      “...I’m going to train,” Keith mumbles, almost as an afterthought, as he makes his way towards the door.

 

      “Y-yeah,” Hunk agrees. “Training sounds good!” He turns towards Pidge. “Come on, we can test out that new– thingamajig you made!” Pidge looks at him, and looks, and looks... “You know the one,” Hunk says, laughing a little. “The– the _thing_! That you made. Um.”

 

      Shiro’s frown grows. Maybe he was too quick to judge Lance. It _had_ been a risky move, but Lance had improved quite a bit. He should apologize – later, once Lance had had time to cool down. With that thought, Shiro nods to himself and walks to the door, putting Hunk’s rambling to a stop.

     

      “See you later,” He calls, halfway out of the room. “Good work today, guys.”

 

* * *

 

 

      Day turns to night, the sun rises again before it falls, and time goes on. They save lives, deal with monsters, and fight for the freedom of the enslaved.

 

      There haven’t been anymore ‘Dad Incidents’, as Shiro calls them (privately), which isn’t necessarily a good thing, nor is it a bad thing. Hunk still seems embarrassed to be around him, at times – mostly during meals – and every time he’s gone to check up on Pidge, she’s been fast asleep in her bed, clutching a notebook and a chewed pen.

 

      He still doesn’t know how to feel about being called ‘dad’. On one hand, it was embarrassing – he isn’t that old! But on the other hand... in a way, it felt sort of nice, to be considered a part of their family. It would have been better if he’d been called ‘brother’, but the principal is the same. He wants to have a family, here, with all of them. Wants to feel like he’s a part of something like that again – something close-knit and warm, something that feels like home.

 

      So... he can admit that he’s sort of disappointed when they don’t call him ‘dad’ again. Just a little bit.

 

* * *

 

 

      “It’s lunch time, Paladins!” Coran calls over the speaker, before he shuts down the training arena. They all file out of the room, except for Shiro who, like always, stays behind to tidy up.

 

      When he finally gets to the dining room, he can tell that something’s up. Lance is being way too quiet, nobody is eating yet, and Coran looks like he’s going to fall out of his seat with excitement.

 

      “Is something... wrong?” Shiro asks, pulling his seat back slowly. Pidge shakes her head too fast. Shiro narrows his eyes and looks down at his chair. The cushion seems normal enough...  He sits down tentatively and, sure enough, there’s nothing amiss. Everybody is still acting strange, though. “Are you sure?” He pins Hunk down with a stare, knowing that the teen can’t lie under pressure.

 

      “Oh, just look at your damn cup!” Lance shouts, surprising Shiro. A grunt of pain follows, as Keith elbows him in the stomach, and then a curse word follows that, but Shiro isn’t paying attention anymore as he diverts his gaze to the mug in front of him.

 

      It’s in the shape of all the other cups, coloured grey and a bright, glowing blue. At first, Shiro doesn’t notice anything that would differentiate it from any other cup on the table. Then, he picks it up, turns it around, and...

 

      A laugh is startled out of him, his eyes crinkling with mirth as he looks at the words engraved into the metal: _#1 Space Dad_. He feels something warm blossom in his chest, spreading all over, and he thinks, _‘This is my family.’_

 

      “Do you like it?” Allura asks, slightly hesitant, yet smiling kindly. They’re all looking at him like that – hesitant, excited, hoping that he appreciates the gift.

 

      “Yes,” Shiro answers. He runs a thumb over the words, and his smile grows wider. “I love it.”

 

      “Told you all he’d like it,” Lance gloats. He looks directly at Keith and, surprisingly, Keith only rolls his eyes with a fond smile. “It _was_ my idea after all–”

 

      “Hey,” Pidge interrupts, frowning. “It was so _not_ your idea! You wanted to give him _socks_!”

 

      Lance pauses, caught red-handed. He decides on, “Well socks are practical.” Keith snorts.

 

      They continue to bicker, although it’s without any real venom, and Shiro half-listens. He only intervenes when it looks like a food fight is about to break out, threatening to ground them if they don’t listen. There’s a pause, and then they’re all laughing.

 

      Shiro thinks, _‘This is my home.’_

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it! I had a real fun time writing this!


End file.
